On Saturday afternoon, I received the following from Rita Ching:

Dear Family and Friends,

Eric died quite peacefully this morning shortly after 6:00. Becket
and I were with him.

A memorial service will be held next Saturday, August 4th, at 3:00
p.m. at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 2094 Grant Road, Mountain
View, California. Directions are available on the St. Timothy's
website at: http://www.sttims.org/find.shtml

With love and gratitude for all your support,
Rita
********

Eric was the responsible party behind the Ching sling as well as having hunted Africa and being an Instructor at Gunsite / API under Jeff Cooper.

Mods - Feel free to move if this is not the appropriate area for it.

Rita, Eric,
The world has lost a quite Hero.
Happy Hunting, my Friend
Jeff Smith

We are all saddened by Eric's passing.

I am lucky to have been able to call him my friend.

God bless you Eric.

I am very sorry to hear this. R.I.P.

I'm going to miss him, he was really helpful to me when I first started posting here.

The passing far too early of a gentleman. We are all lessened by his loss ... to a better place. God's speed on the last safari.

Eric The Good has died too young.
He was loved by many and will not be forgotten.
Home from the hill.
I like that thought of Godspeed to Eric on The Last Safari to The Happy Hunting Ground.

I had no idea...was he ill? Sorry to hear that.

Eric Ching always responded thoughtfully and quickly to every little message I sent, a true gentleman and someone I respected greatly. I own and use his safari sling.

Eric was indeed a gentleman in all things, and we are all sorry that he had to leave early (to paraphrase PHC).

jim

Wow. Kinda shocked as I alos was unaware that he was ill. Met him a couple of times at SCI. Always very pleasant.

I have his Safari Ching Sling on two of my rifles.

Please pass my condolences to his family.

Adios Amigo...

The SuperSecretSteyrSociety just won't be the same with out you.

Who knows what happened?

Elmo

God Bless.
Max

What sad news this is.

Eric Ching was a real gent on this board and answered and contributed to many a topic especially on slings. His comments certainly helped me alot.

My condolences to the family.

I too am sad to hear this.

I didn't know him well but we had some mutual friends and we'd emailed back and forth a bit and he seemed like a great guy.

Kyler

Our very good friend Eric Ching died early Saturday morning, July 28, 2007, after a courageous eleven month fight with cancer. I visited Eric and his wife Rita several times over the course of his illness, most recently this last Wednesday and Thursday. Eric's last days appeared very comfortable. He was sleeping most all of the day by then, but woke briefly from time to time. I told Eric that everyone who knew him were praying for him, thinking of him, and wishing him well. He seemed to relax when he heard that. I read Eric a hunting story and thanked him for all the fine times we had together.

As others have noted Eric was the inventor of the Ching Sling (as endorsed by Jeff Cooper and issued with the Steyr Scout rifle package), the more recent Safari Ching Sling, and the Ching Ring scope mount. He was an instructor at Gunsite/API and taught privately in the San Francisco Bay Area. Eric began hunting in his middle years and pursued game with both joy and success in California, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Africa and Zambia. In addition to posting on shooting and hunting related forums Eric spent much time corresponding on the topic of RKBA. Eric was gentleman in the classic sense of the term and a treasured friend to all who knew him. He will be missed.

This is terribly sad news. We have lost a true gentleman whose contributions and thoughtfulness will be missed.

quote:

We have lost a true gentleman whose contributions and thoughtfulness will be missed.

+1

RIP.

Canuck

I am simply stunned at finding this thread. Such a fine person. and so young. My sincere condolences to his people.

Nick

Our prayers are with you and your family.